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TransForm’s June 2018 Voter Guide

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There’s a primary election coming up on June 5 and California voters have some important choices to make.

Do you know where the gubernatorial candidates stand on transportation and land-use? We teamed up with transportation and equity advocates from across the state to ask the candidates questions about transportation justice, autonomous vehicles, transit-oriented development, High Speed Rail, walking and biking, and more.

We also took positions on five ballot measures, including three that are statewide.

Read on to learn more so that you can be a transportation voter on June 5!

See the gubernatorial candidates’ positions on transportation and land use

We teamed up with friends at MoveLA, Streetsblog CA, Public Advocates, San Francisco Transit Riders, and Friends of Caltrain to ask the people running to be our next governor about transportation and land use, with input from the public to help shape the questions. We sent questions to all the main candidates, and received responses from five candidates (the Democrats in the race).

As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, TransForm can’t endorse or support candidates for office. However, we felt it was important to elevate transportation issues in this gubernatorial election and inform voters about where all the candidates stand on the issues we care about.

Proposition 68 would authorize $4 billion in bonds for parks, water quality and supply, and environmental protection. It would also reallocate $100 million in previously unused bonds to these purposes.

Like our state’s transportation systems, California’s park and water infrastructure suffers not only from disrepair, but from decades of unjust and inequitable planning and investment. Prop. 68 will direct certain investments to disadvantaged communities that need more parks, safe drinking water, protection from the impacts of climate change. We support this effort to invest in these critical components of healthy, sustainable communities — it’s in line with our advocacy with the Sustainable Communities for All coalition on cap-and-trade expenditures.

Among Prop 68’s investments:

$725 million for creating and expanding neighborhood parks in park-poor areas

$218 million for restoring and preserving state parks

$175 million for projects related to ocean, bay, and coastal protection

$540 million for clean drinking water, groundwater, and drought projects

Among the deals struck to pass SB 1, last year’s landmark transportation funding measure, was a condition that a proposition be put on the June 2018 ballot to guarantee the new funds could not be raided by future legislatures and governors for uses other than transportation. This is it!

We are pleased that SB 1 allocates approximately $1 billion a year to public transportation and safe walking and biking, and we wouldn’t want to see that money funneled to unrelated purposes. Read more about why we support Proposition 69.

No on Proposition 70 - Legislative approval for cap-and-trade expenditures

Proposition 70 would subject cap-and-trade expenditures to a two-thirds vote by the legislature in 2024. This is a ploy by Big Oil and conservatives in the legislature to derail California’s climate leadership. It would expose a critical source of funding, currently used to fight climate pollution and improve community health, to corporate lobbying and legislative horse-trading. The current process already has transparency and accountability built in, with annual budget and policy hearings, legislative oversight and approval of the spending plan, and annual reports. For more information, go to stopprop70.org.

RM3 will make big regional investments to expand the reach of transit and make it more reliable and accessible.

It will gradually increase Bay Area bridge tolls by $3, adding $1 every other year for 6 years. Most of the money raised will go towards improving public transit and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. It also expands funding for Safe Routes to Transit and the Bay Trail. We are concerned that higher tolls will be a hardship for low-income drivers, but 75% of toll payers make more than $75k per year. On the whole it will be a fee on relatively high-income drivers to make transit better for everyone.

Measure B in San Jose is a misleading attempt to bypass the city’s general plan, affordable housing requirements, and environmental protections to build a gated community of luxury homes on what is currently open space. The proposal is opposed by the mayor, city council, and a very diverse coalition of local groups, including our allies at the Greenbelt Alliance, SV@Home, the Sierra Club, SPUR, and other organizations. Learn more at noonbsj.com.

About This Blog

TransForum is the blog of TransForm, California's leading transportation advocate. For more about our work, including ways you can take action and contribute, visit TransFormCA.org.